Shari'a is the law now in Iraq

[spinbaby]

From the riverbend blog:

Thursday, January 15, 2004
 
Shari'a and Family Law...
On Wednesday our darling Iraqi Puppet Council decided that secular Iraqi family law would no longer be secular- it is now going to be according to Islamic Shari'a. Shari'a is Islamic law, whether from the Quran or quotes of the Prophet or interpretations of modern Islamic law by clerics and people who have dedicated their lives to studying Islam.

The news has barely been covered by Western or even Arab media and Iraqi media certainly aren't covering it. It is too much to ask of Al-Iraqiya to debate or cover a topic like this one- it would obviously conflict with the Egyptian soap operas and songs. This latest decision is going to be catastrophic for females- we're going backwards.

More at:

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

[the populist]

1. I guess that's what happens when you overthrow...

I guess that's what happens when you overthrow secular socialist Arab regimes that had nothing to do with 9/11.

Maybe Syria is next...

[htuttle]

2. Indeed...

I wonder if Al Queda has any more enemies they'd like Bush to take care of for them?

[IndianaGreen]

3. Thank you America for squashing women's rights, again!

Women in Marxist Afghanistan could go to college, hold jobs and political office, and could wear Western-style dress.

Our anti-Socialists obsession made us support the Mujahadeem, which included the likes of Osama bin Laden and Mullar Omar.

Women are still wearing burqas in Afghanistan.

Women in Baathist Iraq had a degree of freedom and independence unknown in the Persian Gulf region.

Thank you America for squashing women's rights, again!

[ma4t]

4. What's wrong with that??

Surely you wouldn't want us to be cultural imperialists and impose our sense of right and wrong on others. Why should we consider their views towards women as any less valid than ours?

[qanda]

5. They actually changed the law to impose this

I'd say read the link and then comment.

[ma4t]

8. I did read the link

The commentary on the linked article seemed to me to be an argument why the change was a bad thing.

My question is by what right do we have to impose our sense of right and wrong on others? After all, should we not celebrate the cultural diversity that exists across the world? Why would we want to have others conform to our cultural norms regarding the treatment of women?

[mlawson]

10. What is wrong? Imagine yourself living under a dictatorship run by

Pat Robertson or Jerry Foulwell, only FAR worse. Theocracy is a VERY oppressive form of government, whatever the religion.

I pity the Iraqis who are not religious; they are going to have lives from hell.

[ma4t]

12. So then you would say that "our way is better"?

Are you trying to make the case that Western values are somehow "superior" to those of Sharia? Be careful, if you start down that slippery slope then you will have to make all kinds of value judgements.

[mlawson]

13. I oppose theocracies, whatever the religion, wherever they are.

It never fails to amaze me here on DU, almost everyone bashes the living crap out of "Christian" fundies, but Islamic ones, oh, that is different: they can do no wrong. Oppression is oppression, and I would expect liberals to oppose it.

I am saying that having NO theocracy is better. How can anyone argue against freedom of (or from) religion????

[ma4t]

15. Thank you

I abhor theocracies as much as I suspect you do.

Frankly, I think any form of government that restricts the basic freedoms of the people stinks and that those who make apologies for such affronts to human decency are clueless. This applies not just to theocracies but also the old USSR and its eastern European vassal states, Iran, the Sudan and even the workers' paradise in Cuba.

I wonder how anyone can agrue in favor of some of those offensive governments but you'd be suprised how many on DU will do so, using the same sort of empty-headed arguments I advanced above.

To make it perfectly clear: YES, the values espoused by Western culture regarding self-determination are superior to those from other cultures that do not value universal, individual freedom.

I would hope that we can agree on that. I would also hope that more DU-ers would come to that realization.

[mlawson]

16. Cool.

And thank you.

I remember my fright in 1980, when Ronnie was elected. His fundie fanatic supporters were going around saying that 'now, we won't ALLOW anyone to be sinful'. Paul Weyrich said just that. But we were lucky, Ronnie apparently just used them to get elected. But I have never forgotten how scary that time was.

[Sliverofhope]

11. Even going with the cultural relativism argument

This is indicative of more ominous things. Like, perhaps, a more friendly-to-terrorism atmosphere. Which means, if nothing else, we will never be able to leave Iraq. Which is also a pretty sound prediction.

[Sliverofhope]

6. Thank goodness someone's paying attention to this

my thread at

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1021932

was being rather ignored.

[jmowreader]

7. You didn't expect this to happen?

Iraq was one of the few--if not the only--secularly-governed nation in the Middle East. And it was that asshole Saddam that made it happen.

Now that he's in US custody, the Islamic theocracy that the men over there prefer (because it keeps women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen--no liberal need lambaste me for that term, because you damn well know that's exactly what it does) will flourish.

Only problem: you have three branches of Islam represented in Iraq, the Shi'a, the Sunni and the Kurds, and they don't like each other. Now not only are they going to be shooting at their capitalist oppressors (meaning us), they'll be shooting at each other. Meaning more capitalist oppressors are going to die.

Dubya, you dumbass, I hope you're reading this: get the fuck out of my White House before you get more American troops killed.

[Sliverofhope]

9. I knew this was coming

But that's not all, if you look at the end of "Refereeing in Hell" it's pretty clear a civil war is in the makings, too. As soon as we pull out, we could be looking at a really bad situation.

People don't seem to realize sometimes you have to make choices between evil and evil. It's horrible, but sadly, some of the people Saddam oppressed were fundamentalist good squads. And he did keep the nation together. What happens now?

It's like Afghanistan. Is there any positive future even available?

[the populist]

14. Syria is secular

but Bush wants President Bashar al-Assad to "hand over Saddam's WMDs".

Iraq is turning into a bloodbath because Bush took advantage of the disadvantages of the Kurds and the Shia fanatics under Saddam to get ground support for the invasion. Now they're all fighting each other and blowing themselves up along with our troops.

Hell Iraq might turn into the next Afghanistan as a terrorist breeding ground. Oh shit, it already has!

[eissa]

17. I'm Iraqi and my husband is Syrian

When friends have been over and caught the Arab satellite shows, they are utterly shocked at what goes on in Syria and Lebanon; it's definitely not what you see in our media. Some of the clothes worn by the women there would make Britney look like a nun. Yeah, they're dictatorships, but I guarantee you that none of them would trade a bad dictatorship for Islamic fundamentalists theocracy. Poor Iraq; screwed again.